redistribution of deposited sand associated with one large overwash fan was 

 observed over an 18-month period following the 1978 storm. Approximately 

 8,000 m 3 of sand was deposited during the storm. Nearly 3,000 m 3 of this 

 deposit was deflated during the following 18 months. About 50 percent of 

 this material was incorporated into dunes adjacent to the overwash, and about 

 50 percent was returned to the ocean beach. 



Vegetative response to overwash. Dunes that are eroded during overwash 

 are recolonized by dune vegetation by means of seeds and plant fragments 

 regenerating in drift piles found on washover deposits and by rhizome exten- 

 sion from nearby remnant dunes. Living plant material torn from the dunes is, 

 in many cases, able to regenerate. All four major dune species on Mauset 

 Spit-Eastham (Ammophila breviligulata, Eoliaago sempervirens, Lathy rus 

 japonious, and Artemisia stelleriana) can reproduce vegetatively from plant 

 fragments. The February 1978 storm destroyed large sections of dune line, 

 uprooting vast quantities of organic material. In 1978, seven species of 

 flowering plants regenerated from fragments. The four above-named species 

 also exhibited both vertical and lateral rhizome extension. Seedlings were 

 seldom found in drift piles in areas that had been dunes, because overwash 

 surges carried light material through the area toward the fan terminus. 



The major dune species are very tolerant of sand burial by overwash. 

 Ammophila breviligulata is able to recover from 59 centimeters (cm) of over- 

 wash burial, and its physiological limit for recovery was probably not reached 

 in this study. Ammophila recovered from artificial burial to a depth of more 

 than 1 m. The season that overwash occurs may play an important role in the 

 dune community response to burial. Young dunr. plants or dune plants that have 

 recently broken dormancy have tissue that is susceptible to damage from salt- 

 water exposure. Older plants are better able to withstand contact with 

 saltwater. 



Though dune communities may be either eroded or buried by overwash 

 events, the salt-marsh communities are generally subject only to burial. 

 Salt-marsh vegetation on Nauset Spit-Eastham did not grow through washover 

 deposits greater than 33 cm deep. In areas where deposition was from 22 to 

 33 cm, only Spartina patens and Spartina alterniflora, the major plant 

 species in the high and low marsh communities, respectively, were able to 

 recover. Spartina patens cover and density were reduced when buried to a 

 depth of 33 cm. Cover and density of Spartina altemiflora were not reduced 





